Government shutdown updates: Biden signs stopgap funding measure
The president signed the 45-day bill on Saturday night.
The U.S. seemed to be barreling toward what would have been one of the largest government shutdowns in history -- until a stopgap 45-day funding bill was hastily passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden on Saturday night, not long before the deadline.
Had lawmakers failed to reach an agreement, 3.5 million federal workers would have been expected to go without a paycheck, millions of women and children would have lost nutrition assistance, national parks would likely have closed and more.
The temporary legislation, which lasts until mid-November, affords more time for the House Republican majority and the Senate's Democratic majority to work out longer-term bills.
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McCarthy floats two-week, clean short-term funding bill
Leaving a more than two-hour contentious GOP conference meeting, Speaker Kevin McCarthy is now floating a two-week, clean short-term funding bill with no attachments.
"I think if we had a clean one [CR] without Ukraine on it, we could probably be able to move that through. I think if the Senate puts Ukraine on there and focuses Ukraine over America, I think I think that could cause real problems," McCarthy said Friday.
McCarthy said "I think we can solve that" if the Senate sends a clean short-term measure with no Ukraine aid or any other attachments.
This is a significant change in position from McCarthy on the eve of a potential government shutdown.
"If they produce a clean ability to keep the government open while we finish our work and have gotten to our [appropriations] bills. I think we can solve that," he said.
McCarthy said if the Senate sends over its current proposal, then "it's probably leading to a shutdown."
The speaker claims he proposed to put a clean short-term funding bill on the floor but said "Democrats won't vote for it."
"So that would be a shutdown," he said.
McCarthy acknowledged "there are no winners in a government" but the conference is continuing to "work through trying to find a way out of this."
"I think it's productive that we keep the house open while we finish our work," he added.
-ABC News' Lauren Peller
Shutdown would hurt US efforts to advance national security: Blinken
A government shutdown would be detrimental to the State Department's efforts on the world stage, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
"Our work would clearly be affected by this. It would make it harder to do everything we do to try to advance national security. So, we urge Congress not to take this step," Blinken said.
Asked if he would view a continuing resolution that didn't include supplemental funding for Ukraine as a suitable compromise, he didn't answer.
"I'm not going to comment on the specifics of legislative arrangements. That is up to the members of Congress," he said.
--ABC News' Shannon Crawford
Shutdown would 'hurt' service members, drive down recruitment
A partial government shutdown would hurt military recruitment -- as well as its members, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Friday.
Military recruitment, which is already suffering, would take a hit in a shutdown and send a "horrible message to young people" and deter them from enlisting, Kirby said.
"Young people … graduating high school here, you know, in the spring, they can be forgiven for thinking, 'Maybe that's not where I want to go. Why would I want to sign up and do that dangerous work, when I can't even guarantee that there's going to be a paycheck for it?'" Kirby said.
While Kirby said there is patriotism and a sense of duty in serving in the military, he said a shutdown hurt service members.
"You start missing a couple of paychecks when you're in active-duty service to the nation, and it starts to hurt. You can't buy groceries, or as many, anyway. Bills are tougher to pay, rent and mortgage payments are tough to cover."
If the government shuts down, an estimated 3.5 million federal workers would have to go without pay – about 2 million of which are in the military.
ABC News' Ben Gittleson
Millions of military members will go without a paycheck
Unlike shutdowns past, where lawmakers passed appropriations bills to fund the Department of Defense personnel, the White House estimates that 2 million military members will have to without pay if the government shuts down over the weekend.
President Joe Biden, at a farewell ceremony for Gen. Mark Milley, said if the House fails to keep the government open it will have "failed all of our troops," going as far as calling it a "disgrace."
Austin Carrigg, a military spouse, spoke to ABC News Live about the impact a partial government shutdown will have on her family. Carrigg said she and her husband, Master Sgt. Joshua Carrigg will be in a life-or-death situation if they don't receive a paycheck because they might not be able to afford medication for their 11-year-old daughter, who has Down syndrome, a congenital heart defect, metabolic disorder and recently suffered a catastrophic stroke.
"It really feels like a smack in the face that they think so little of us that they're unwilling to pay our troops while they are going through this negotiation," Carrigg explained about her frustrations with lawmakers. "We understand that negotiations have to happen and that everybody takes a stand. But that stance shouldn't be on the backs of our military families and that's what they're doing this time."
